Degree Programs

Specialist Program Details

12-18 months | Credit Hours: 27

Our Educational Specialist (Ed. S.) degree program is designed to prepare teacher leaders who are instrumental in the creation and implementation of instructional policies and practices that ensure that all students can and do learn. Program coursework and field experiences expand and deepen graduates’ theoretical and pedagogical knowledge and enable graduates to understand and apply innovative, emerging research on developments in Early Childhood Education.

Program Description

Our Educational Specialist (Ed. S.) degree program is designed to prepare teacher leaders who are instrumental in the creation and implementation of instructional policies and practices that ensure that all students can and do learn. Program coursework and field experiences expand and deepen graduates? theoretical and pedagogical knowledge and enable graduates to understand and apply innovative, emerging research on developments in Early Childhood Education.
Program faculty are dedicated to the ideals of social justice and endeavor to equip graduates with the ability work within the existing systems or to change existing systems to bring about equitable environments for all learners.
As a student in our degree program, you'll learn strategies to help all students succeed by focusing on subjects such as:
Students as Learners
Teachers as Leaders
Societal Issues
Classroom Issues
Research and Inquiry
Estimated time to completion is 12-18 months. Time for completion of this degree may vary by student, depending on individual progress and credits transferred, if applicable. For a personalized estimate of your time to completion, call your advisor.
Program website and contacts:
The Department of Learning and Teaching Website?includes a projected course offerings, program sheets, and other vital information.

Coursework

Estimated time to completion is 12-18 months. Time to completion may vary by student, depending on individual progress and credits transferred, if applicable. For a personalized estimate of your time to completion, call your advisor.

NOTE: Not all of the courses listes below are required.

This program requires only 27 credit hours.

The courses you will take, will depend on your desired content specialization. See the program sheet for more detailed information:

General:

Description:
This graduate course is a study of human growth and development from birth through aging and death. The course focuses on areas of physical, cognitive, social, personality, and emotional development as a series of progressive changes resulting from the biological being's interactions with the environment. Special emphasis is placed on the development characteristics of school age youth within a multicultural and diverse society.

Description:
Designed to provide students with knowledge of factors and processes related to teacher leadership roles within schools. Topics such as mentoring, peer coaching, community relations, organizational change, and advocacy will be addressed.

Description:
Enrollment requires approval of research proposal by program instructor and consent of EDRS instructor. This course is designed for students planning to conduct a research project as part of their specialist degree requirement. Students have the op-portunity to examine various research designs and data analysis techniques appropriate to qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Students learn computer applications and the reporting of results in APA style.

Official transcripts from a regionally or nationally accredited institution are required and should be sent directly to the UWG Admissions Office.

Program-specific Admittance Guidelines

Admission to the program requires a Level 5, clear and renewable professional certificate in Early Childhood Education based on a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education.

Any other Master's degree with a Level 5 certification must meet the Content Specialization requirements in the Early Childhood Education Master's degree program in order to be admitted into the Ed.S. program.

A minimum GPA of 3.0 in graduate coursework is required for admission to the program.

Dates

Specific dates for Admissions (Undergraduate Only), Financial Aid, Fee Payment, Registration, Start/End of Term Dates, Final Exams, etc. are available in THE SCOOP at http://www.westga.edu/registrar/766.php.